PENGUINS WEEKLY RELEASE - 3/4/13

The Norfolk Admirals made it eight straight wins at Mohegan Sun Arena with a 2-1 win over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

Tom Kostopoulos opened the scoring for the Penguins with a power play goal at 7:33 of the second, but the Admirals evened the score on the man-advantage with Brandon MacMillan converting with 50.2 seconds left before the intermission. Josh Brittain tipped in the game-winner for Norfolk with 6:20 remaining in regulation.

Jeff Zatkoff took the loss with 31 saves for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

Friday, March 1: PENGUINS 2, Bears 3

A three-goal flurry by the Hershey Bears in the first 9:30 of the contest was enough to edge the Penguins, 3-2, in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

Boyd Kane, Jeff Taffe and Ryan Potulny each found the back of the net over a span of 5:15 to lift Hershey to a sizeable lead. The Penguins would start to chip away at the deficit with Tom Kostopoulos’ 5-on-4 tally at 15:15 of the first period. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton outshot Hershey 25-6 over the final two periods, but could not get any closer after closing the gap to one goal on Joey Mormina’s marker 7:37 into the second.

Jeff Zaktoff stopped all eight shots he faced in 50:30 of relief work. Brad Thiessen lost for the first time in four starts with four saves on seven shots.

Saturday, March 2: PENGUINS 2, Devils 1 (SO)

For the second Saturday in a row, the Penguins were a 2-1 victor in the shootout as they edged the Albany Devils at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton went ahead, 1-0, when Trevor Smith scored during a power play at 9:25 of the first. Darcy Zajac completed an odd-man rush with less than five minutes left in the second frame to tie the game and force an eventual shootout.

After Mike Sislo and Jayson Megna traded goals through the first four rounds, Tom Kostopoulos gave the Penguins their first lead of shootout in the top of the fifth round. Joe Whitney answered for Albany to force sudden death, but Adam Payerl converted in round six and Jeff Zatkoff turned aside Steve Zalewski to give Wilkes-Barre/Scranton the win. Zatkoff also made 26 saves through overtime.

UPCOMING GAMES

Friday, March 8, 7:05 PM: Penguins at BRUINS – 102.3 the Mountain

The Penguins take on the Atlantic Division-leading Bruins (33-18-0-5) for the first time this season. Providence has risen to the top of the standings thanks to a 13-2-0-2 record in its last 17 games. Forward Jamie Tardif is tied for third in the AHL with 26 goals scored. Goalie Niklas Svedberg is 15-1-1 in his last 17 games. The Penguins are 11-4-0-4-1 (W-L-T-OTL-SOL) all-time against the Bruins.

Saturday, March 9, 7:00 PM: Penguins at PIRATES – 102.3 the Mountain

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton will play Portland (32-20-1-2) on two Saturdays in a row as part of its six-game, 10-day road trip. The Penguins have gone 1-0-0-1 versus the Pirates this season and are 12-11-1-2 all-time. Portland has the AHL’s best home winning percentage at .750 (19-6-0-1) and is four points behind Providence in the division standings.

Sunday, March 10, 5:00 PM: Penguins at MONARCHS – 102.3 the Mountain

The Penguins will face the Monarchs (26-24-3-3) for third time out of four this season with Manchester tied for third in the Atlantic and looking to track down the Bruins and Pirates. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton has outscored Manchester, 7-1, in winning the first two meetings this year. Tyler Toffoli ranks second among first-year players with 46 points (27g-19a) in 53 games.

PENGUINS TEAM LEADERS as of 3/4/13…

PLAYER

GP

G

A

PTS

Chad Kolarik

58

20

26

46

Riley Holzapfel

57

17

20

37

Trevor Smith

57

16

19

35

Beau Bennett

35

7

18

25

Paul Thompson

39

14

8

22

GOALIE

GP

REC

SO

GAA

SV%

Jeff Zatkoff

36

18-16-0

3

1.90

.921

Brad Thiessen

25

12-10-1

4

2.55

.906

EAST DIVISION STANDINGS as of 3/4/13…

TEAM

GP

W

L

OTL

SOL

PTS

1. Syracuse Crunch

57

34

16

3

4

75

2. Binghamton Senators

56

33

17

1

5

72

3. Hershey Bears

57

28

21

3

5

64

4. PENGUINS

57

30

24

2

1

63

5. Norfolk Admirals

55

25

26

3

1

54

ICE CHIPS…

- Wilkes-Barre/Scranton has played six straight games decided by one goal. All four of the team’s wins over the stretch have come by a score of 2-1.

- Tom Kostoplous recorded his 100th goal as Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguin on Friday versus Hershey. Kostopoulos followed that up on Saturday against Albany, scoring his first-ever goal in the shootout.

- Goaltender Jeff Zatkoff has allowed two goals or less in 13 of his last 14 starts. He is the league’s active leader with a 1.90 goals against average.